Around 12 years ago, a passenger wanted to fly to China with around 1,63 million dollars in cash in their hand luggage. The ground staff is said to have insisted that this be given up at the counter. That has consequences in court, because the man demands the money back from Emirates.

The passenger wanted to fly from Lagos to Guangzhou via Dubai and Hong Kong. In the past 12 years he could not conclusively explain why he had so much cash with him. Police investigations have shown that the luggage never left Lagos. The tags were found, but the bags have been lost since then.

Emirates has now brought an appeal against a court ruling, because the passenger demands 1,63 million US dollars plus 131.000 US dollars in interest. The court wants the carrier to pay out the money to the businessman. However, the airline has concerns that if the appeal is successful, repayment may not be collectible. After all, it is a substantial sum. However, the court rejected the motion that the implementation of the original judgment was suspended pending a decision on the appeal.

The consequence of this is that the plaintiff's attorney is now demanding payment and even with enforcement action there. How the 12 year old affair evolves remains to be seen.